For most golfers, a proper putting stroke is a difficult endeavor. Balancing the direction and force of the swing to smoothly roll the ball into the cup is sometimes overwhelming. Golf club designers have tried for many years to harness technology to make the game easier. Many improvements in clubs have helped to add distance to a drive or straighten out a poor shot. A common problem, particularly for new golfers, is the unnatural feel of a putting swing. A good putting swing begins with a proper stance and grip position. A forward press is a recommended grip position, where the hands are slightly angled toward the ball from bottom to top. This is not an intuitive grip position, so amateur golfers often have difficulty adopting this recommendation.
It is known in the art to angle the shaft to provide for a better swing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,554 to Bernhardt teaches a shaft slanting away from the front face of the club, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,608 to Collins discloses a shaft slanted toward the front face and the golfer. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,969 to Bechler teaches an angled shaft.
Further, a successful putting stroke needs a straight back-and-forth motion in the nature of a pendulum motion. Unfortunately, this motion is difficult to perform consistently. Some clubs have been modified to provide for a larger sweet spot or strike zone. Generally, these putters have placed weights in the heel and toe of the putter on opposite sides of the strike zone to keep the putter face stable at impact. The sweet spot is the area on the club face where the club should contact the golf ball during the swing for an optimal shot. Unfortunately, a heel-to-toe weighted putter does not improve the stroke and can only correct for a poor swing to a limited extent if the club is off-center or if the putter face is angled.
Other clubs have used a multiple-weight system to enhance the sweet spot. These clubs generally position weights at the face of the club on either side of the sweet spot and at the rear of the club head. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,879 to Collins teaches a weighted club head with two weights positioned substantially in front of the shaft. These weights are elongated through the width of the club head and run parallel on either side of the center line of the club head. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,430 to Dian features an elongated rod as a weight extending through the width of the club head. Other examples of weight configurations include U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,115 to Hogland and U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,319 to Farrar.
What is needed is a club that automatically places the golfer in a forward press position and encourages the straight back-and-forth pendulum swing desired for a consistently successful putting stroke.